


Stars are brighter in Beach City

by OneCoolCat



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Anger, Aquamarine is Lapis' younger sister, Domestic Violence, Empire City, Fantasy, Female Bonding, Garnet Amethyst Jasper and all of the Pearls are humans, Lapis is 16 and Aquamarine is 9, Lapis' father isn't in the picture/he left them, Rose is "11" in human years, Rose is lost, Rose the diamonds and the famethysts are gems, Sapphire is Lapis' mother, Sapphire is cold and cruel, Secrets, Spinel is also a gem, Suicide Attempt, horrible writing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2020-12-24 20:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21105779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneCoolCat/pseuds/OneCoolCat
Summary: Lapis is a sad, self-loathing 16 year old who lives in a broken home with her mom and her little bratty sister. After another horrible argument breaks out with the family, Lapis decides that she's had enough.Going up to the roof of their Empire City apartment, she stands on the edge of the building. And just as she's about to do the unthinkable, she hears some sobbing on the other side of the roof coming from a little girl with pink fluffy hair.She jumps back down and goes to comfort her. She then finds out that the little girl is actually a gem and far away from her new home in Beach City. Despite of all the red flags and the oh so many questions she has about this seemingly innocent little girl, Lapis still decides to take her back home to her family. Easier said than done. And even harder when one or the other has skeletons in her closet..





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> ********WARNING******** There's a pretty harsh mother and daughter argument and a suicidal attempt 
> 
> And this idea stemmed from an AU picture that I just randomly thought about yesterday. Like I literally just got up, went to the bathroom and was getting ready for work and the pic just randomly popped up in my mind. The AU pic was of the signature scene where Steven heals lapis and she turns around to thank him. Instead, it was Steven with pink feathers. I'm not sure if it's actually an AU or if it's just a drawing, but aaaaanywho, I started thinking about how it would be if Lapis were to be the one to help someone and if that someone was a child all alone and scared.. and blah, blah, blah and then other random ideas started popping in my head and then I mixed together another idea I had a whiiiiiile, while back and um, that's it.  
Also, I know I wrote a synopsis but I'm still not 100% sure with what ALL I'm going to do within this story yet, but hopefully at least one person will like the fic and bare with it. *Shrugs*

"I HATE this family!! It's NOTHING like how it was before!" Lapis screamed out. She threw her hands on the table, dishes popping and clinking from the sudden vibration. She made a level glare at her mom across the table. The stoic figure in front of Lapis barely blinked at her, bringing another spoonful of string beans up to her mouth.

Lapis scowled at the lack of emotion coming from the woman. She smacked the fork out of her hand, her mother looking shocked as the fork flung across the table and onto the floor with a clank. Her mother turned back, her expression hardening into a stern glare. 

"Oooooooo" Aquamarine cosigned. "You're gonna get it now."

And as if on cue, her mother grabbed her arm, twisting it and pulling Lapis towards her. The teeneger winced and for a split second, her expression was broken into a look of worry.. until anther bout of mixture of self hatred and anger replaced her fear. She scowled back, growling, trying to yank her arm away from her grasp.

"I NO you didn't have the audcaity.. the _stupidity_ to hit me." her mother hissed out, her face close to Lapis'.

Lapis had knocked the fork out of hand.. but she definitely wouldn't dare to hit her own mother.. 

But of course.. she didn't bother saying that.. Instead, she continued to try and get out of her grasp, grunting out as she did. 

Her mother kept going. "What.is.. wrong with you!! Where is your brain!! Are you stupid!!" More insults were being thrown at Lapis as her mom grabbed her other hand.

"I'm not stupid.." she whispered. She could already feel tears starting to come. She tried to blink them away. She swallowed in a sob. "I'm not stupid.." she said again with shaky breath.

"You must be!!" she shouted out. "You were really going to hit me?!" ..she wasn't really going to.. " You were really going to hit your own mother?!" She scoffed. "Now something is really wrong with you. No other child in there right mind would do that." Her glare never wavered as she stared back at her daughter's chilling eyes.

Lapis' breath hitched and she swallowed down a few more sobs, her throat hurting from holding back. She blinked a few more times, angered pants as she thought of what to say. There were so many cruel things she wanted to say to the woman.

"WHAT KIND OF A DAUGHTER ARE YOU!"

A single tear slid from the corner of Lapis' eye and she finally broke away from the stare.. Her lips quivered, all of the years and years of insults flooding back to her.. Then, with as much contempt and vexation in her voice.. "You make me sick.." another tear. "And my only wish.. is to get away from you... From EVERYONE.. forever!!" More tears escaped.

"You keep this act up and that can be arranged."

"And now you're threatening me!!"

"You leave me no choice." her mom narrowed her eyes at her.

Lapis pulled harder from her grips and her mom finally let go, throwing her hands back at her.

"Lapis.." her mother towered over her, scowling. "You truly have changed." she whispered. "You know that crappy, erratic behavior is NOT going to bring him back." the last few words came out thick and cold.

Lapis grimaced at the jab. She felt another wave of guilt and sadness take over her. She turned around, her back facing her mom and her stupid sister who was enjoying the dinner and the show. "Well maybe I should just leave, just like him-"

"Go ahead! I don't care.." she went to go pick up the fork and made her way to the kitchen sink, turning on the faucet. "Heck, if you ask me, we'll be better of without you.." she washed the fork off and set it in the dish holder.

Lapis had to catch her breath. She shouldn't had been surprised her own mother had said that.. Especially with all of the threats she'd been getting recently. 

"Now _that_ can be arranged.." she mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" she turned around, rounding her shoulders.

Lapis was about to say something after that, but decided not to. It wasn't going to be worth it, especially with what she was going to do anyway. It just wasn't worth it.."Nothing.." she grumbled out, making her way towards the front door.

"Yeah, go on and leave." she heard her mom say from the kitchen. "That's what you do best after all."

And that was it. She stopped just a few inches from the door and without holding back she shouted "And why don't drown yourself in alcohol!" her voiced echoed through their tiny studio apartment. Lapis opened the door. "That's what _you_ do best after all." her voice came out in a choked sob. 

"What did she say?" she heard her mom ask her sister. "I know she didn't just-"

Lapis ran out, slamming the door shut behind her.

She heard the door open back up. "Uh huh.. I got something for you when your tail comes back!!" she heard the door slam again before she turned the corner towards the elevators.

The tears wouldn't stop and her loud sobbing echoed through the halls and onto the elevator. She pressed the sky deck button, an ominous ding as the button lit up. The elevator rose slowly, and Lapis watched the numbers light up as they passed every floor.._16, 17, 18, 19.._ She hoped that nobody would be getting on. That would be all she needed.. Someone to pry into her business as to why she was crying and that same person talking her out of her plans.. No.. 

She was almost at the roof. _34, 35, 36, 37.._ The elevator dinged open and Lapis walked out. The cold immediately hit her, nipping at her bare arms and ankles. She didn't care. In just a couple of minutes she wouldn't have to worry about it anyway. She dragged her feet across the wet asphalt of the roof. Her sobs mixing in with the sounds of cars screeching and the siren of an ambulance going pass.

She made her way to the edge of the roof, slowly looking around to see the city's landscape laid out before her in colorful, nauseating, tourist-pulling lights. She took a deep breath and exhaled, seeing her breath in the air. This was it. There was no going back. Tears continued to stream down her face as she tried to choke back a few loud sobs.

She took her step up on the ledge and looked down, looking at the cars zip pass and watching the people saunter on by 39 floors below her. She rocked from side to side, staring blearily at the daunting fall beneath her. She was so high up.. But this was it.. _I can't go back.._ she thought.

She inched a foot a bit more over the edge. A few errant debris falling from the ledge under her feet. She took a deep, shaky breath, closing her eyes. Just do it..

She broke down, crying more, pawing at her eyes. 

She stood there, for just a few more seconds. Count to ten. She listened to the sounds of the city.. realizing that those were going to be the last sounds she'll ever hear. _10..9..8........7............_ she started to drag out. She thought she heard the sound of a high pitched squeal and chalked it up to a late night seagull or rusting brakes from a car or a metal pipe on the roof._6.....5.............4..............3....._ She heard what sounded like whimpers and a few deep breaths.. _3........_ she started again, losing count. _2.........Okay, what the heck is that?_

She opened her eyes and turned around, a confused look on her face. On the far other side of the roof was something pink. It looked to be in a crouching position by an HVAC unit.

Lapis blinked her eyes a few times, trying to rid her eyes of the tears to see clearer. She leaned forward, narrowing her eyes as she tried to make out the unfamiliar figure. It looked to be a girl with huge curly hair that trailed down her back in inhumanly perfect thick curls. And she was wearing a.. dress? Skirt? She could only see the bottom of the clothing as it draped over her legs, flowing in the late evening breeze.

The figure _or person, now that she had gotten a good glimpse of her_ had her face down on her arms as she rested them on her knees.

_Was she...There when I first got out of the elevator?_ Lapis continued to stare at her for a few moments until she remembered why she was on the roof in the first place. She took one last look at the little girl and sighed.. Whatever was bothering her, she would probably get over it.. Then a chilling thought._ Or maybe she'll become the ground's next victim.._ She shook it off. Whatever.. not her problem.. Just like _her_ problems weren't anyone else's..She turned back around. Count. _5....4.....3....2..._ she raised a foot, stopping it over the edge.

The girl behind her sniffled, her body shaking as she continued crying.

_2...........2.......oooon-_Lapis stopped counting, cutting herself off right as she was about to say one. She growled a sigh out and turned around, jumping down and landing in a puddle. She ignored her already wet sandles and cautiously walked over to the girl.

_What am I going to say to her? What if she turns out to be some kind of wanted chick that kills people?_ She stopped just a few feet in front of her and the girl's heavy, shaking breathing stopped in mid breath. _Someone's there.._ She tried to steady her breathing and stop her crying.. _Who's after me now?.... I don't want to look up..._


	2. Chapter Two

Lapis took just one more step and the girl raised her head from the crook of her arm, just ever so slightly. She peeked out with one brown eye, the other still buried underneath the shadows of her arm.

Lapis stopped as she was taking another step towards her. Was she glaring at her? Scared?

"Um.. Hey." she gave a shy wave and the girl watched her hand closely as it motioned in a small arc.

In one swift motion, the girl jolted back, forming a pink bubble around her. Lapis made a startled yelp, jumping back from the sudden mysterious thing. The girl continued to stare at her. Absolute fear in her eyes. "GET AWAY FROM ME! I'M NEVER GOING BACK!!"

"Whoa, whoa." Lapis raised her hands but that only made the girl back up more in her bubble.

Lapis put her arms down slowly. "I'm...Not going to hurt you...I..Think you have me mixed up with someone else?"

The girl ignored her, jolting left, then right, looking around as if searching for something in the sky. 

Lapis was busy staring at the pink bubble surrounding the girl. "Just what _are_ you...?" Before Lapis even realized it, she was slowly making her path towards the girl again.

The girl's breathing increased, becaming more rapid the closer Lapis got to her. Lapis took one step closer, her face just centimeters away from the bubble. The girl threw her arm in front of her as a flash of pink light engulfed her arm and filling her bubble. The flash came and vanished in a split second and Lapis was now gawking at a shield strapped to the girl's arm. She raised her shield up, hiding behind it, shaking. 

"I told you.. I'm not going to hurt you." Lapis raised her hand slowly and the girl cowered behind the shield even more, peeking above the rim of it as she watched Lapis' hand come nearer and nearer to the bubble. 

Lapis was just a hairbreadth away from touching the bubble. Then she hesitated. What was the bubble exactly? Some kind of defense mechanism?.. Poison?Maybe she shouldn't touch it.. Or maybe if it _is_ something that could kill her..

She touched the bubble. Nothing happened. Lapis lifted her hand off the bubble and looked at her palm. No type if residue. Or at least nothing that she could see.

The girl was opening her eyes from having closed them right as Lapis touched the bubble. She trembled, eyes focused solely on her.

Lapis put her hand back on the bubble. She pat it. It didn't budge. Not even a ripple if vibration. She tried to squeeze it but it was solid and unmalleable.

The girl continued to watch on in fear.

_Wow.. whoever she thinks I am, they must have done some serious damage to her.._ Lapis slid down to a crouch position. Her elbows resting on top of her knees. "You don't have to be afraid of me." she whispered into the bubble.

"You're one of them.." she could barely hear her.

Lapis sighed lowly, her patients already wearing thin. "I. Am. A. Hu.Man." she said steadily. "I can't do this kind of stuff." she poked the bubble. "Or.. any of that." she gestured at the shield on her arm. 

The girl wasn't convinced, eyeing Lapis. "You cannot fool me.." she said from behind her shield. "I know you're a fusion.."

Lapis tilted her head. "A what?" The girl kept staring at her, not so much as her eyes, but something else on her face. _What is she staring at?_

Lapis shook her head. "I have no clue what you're talking about.."

The girl shifted, going from a sitting position to a crouching position, standing on her toes.

Lapis saw something reflect off of the girl's stomach and looked down to see a round, pink shiny rock of some sort on her stomach. The girl caught her staring and crouched down more, lowing her shield to hide the rest of her stomach.

Lapis sat there, not knowing exactly what to say.

The two faced each other for five long minutes, not saying anything.

A helicopter was heard from a distance and the girl started looking around frantically. Then her attention went back to Lapis, then to the sky again, looking around. Lapis was curious, now looking at the sky herself. 

The helicopter flew closer, eventually soaring over them. The girl gave a startled scream and threw her other arm up, above her head. There was another flash of light and another shield appeared on her arm. She was trembling, looking at the huge flying machine as it whirled loudly on pass.

Lapis watched as the helicopter disappeared in the distance before turning back to the girl in front of her, shaking. One shield in front of her and one shield still above her. _Maybe she thought it was some kind of spaceship?..Is she even some kind of alien?..Super powered human?_

"That's just a helicopter." the girl flicked her eyes back at Lapis. "See? It's gone." she gestured with her arm out at the empty sky. The girl looked for a split second before turning her eyes back to Lapis.

Lapis sighed again and sat down on the wet asphalt. She rubbed her temples. "Why am I even bothering so much?" she mumbled. "Maybe I should just leave."

"Maybe you should!" her voice shaky.

_Maybe you should! We'll be better off.._ she heard the words of her mother echoing through her mind. Lapis snarled, opening her mouth to say something back. "Yeah! Go back to Homeworld!" the girl said to her. Lapis stopped in her fury. A good thing too.. She scrunched up her face. "Homeworld?" she grabbed the bubble, trying to shake it as if she was shaking someone's to shoulders. Again, it didn't budge. "I'm from HERE. Huuuumaaaaaan." 

The girl scowled, getting up slowly. Two shields in front of her. Lapis tensed her muscles, ready to push off the bubble and bolt the moment the girl did anything sudden.

"You're not from here! I see your gems right there!" she gestured with one of her index finger. Her shield still held securely with her three fingers and thumb, the second strap tight around her arm.

"What are you talking.." she trailed off, patting her face. 

The girl took a few steps back, the bubble moving with her.

When Lapis touched her earlobes the girl tensed up. Lapis trailed her hands down stopping at her round, shiny earrings. _She can't be afraid of these..?_ She was looking at the girl's reaction. Even more tense. Then Lapis remembered the rock on her stomach. _That HAS to be the reason why she thinks I'm one of them.._

"These aren't real." Lapis took hear earrings off and placed it in her palm for the girl to see. She looked shocked. But Lapis didn't know why.

"..You didn't poof.." she finally said.

"Huh? What? Nooo! I don't.. I don't even know what that means! Look." she held the earrings up and the girl jumped back. The earrings dangled in her fingertips. Two small blue rocks hung from the two thin shiny chains. "This." she shook the earrings. "Is jewelry.. Nothing else. I made them." she said slowly. "I just picked up two rocks, painted them and made them into earrings. Jewel. Ry." she said again.

The girl looked at her earlobes, then back at the earrings in her hands. "They're...Not real..?"

Lapis shook her head slowly. "No." she placed the jewelry on the ground and away from them. She sat back down.

"But... The blue hair." she pointed at Lapis' head.

"The color isn't real either.. My hair is actually brown."

The girl tilted her head. "So humans can change their hair color.."

"Noo, we can't do that. I dyed it."

The girl blinked.

"I put chemicals, er, stuff in my hair to make it look like this." she pointed at her hair.

"Oooohh...." the girl dragged out. She looked at the earrings again, laying by themselves on the ground, then back at Lapis. She started lowering her shields down.

"So.." Lapis began. "What are you?"

"I'm uh.. a.. a Rose Quartz."

Lapis wondered if she'd heard correctly. "Like a gemstone?"

"Is that what you call us here? We just say gems." The Rose Quartz took a few steps towards her. "How do you know about us?"

"I don't. I mean, not like this.." Lapis looked over to the jewelry and the Rose Quartz followed her gaze. "We're just.. 'jewelry' here?" she looked uneasy. Maybe it was like looking into your own lifeless body or looking into a parallel dimension..

"Mmm.. more or less?" Lapis shrugged. "It kinda makes you wonder who followed the other, ya know? Like, did Earth base the jewelry after y'all or.. Did you somehow form magically with Earth's jewelry... What came first, the chicken or the egg?" she gave a humorless chuckle.

The girl blinkled again. "What's a chicken... And an egg?"

"Just an animal. Anyway!" she went back to the subject. "Why are you here?"

The girl looked away. "Um.." she bit her lip.

"You weren't sent here to destroy the Earth, were you?"

The girl looked appalled. She turned around and shook her head furiously. "No, no, no! Not at all! Please don't think that! I only come in peace. I love the Earth."

_Yeah, she's definitely not a superhuman. 'I come in peace'? This chick's definitely an alien... Hmmm, I wonder if she has some cool spaceship?_

"I uh.. le, um.." she paused. Then took a breath. "I'm lost." 

"So... You just need some help getting back? Do you live around here?"

The girl looked around. "I'm.. not sure. I don't really recognize this place.. Maybe? I live in Beach City. That's here, right?"

"Beach City?! Dude, that's like, 3 hours away by train!"

"WHAT THREE HOURS?!?!?" her shields vanished and she grabbed her hair. "WHAT ARE HOURS?! IS THAT A LONG TIME?!?!"

"Well it's a long time to be lost, yes!!!"

"OH NO!!" she grabbed her hair tighter. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no.. Spinel's going to be sooo mad." then she gasped. "Spinel! Oh no, oh no, oh no..." The girl made the bubble bigger and Lapis had to use her hands to crabwalk back. She started to pace inside her bubble. "Oh no, oh no, oh no.. Ohh, I hope she's alright. Ohh, she's probably SO worried.. Ohhhh, she can NOT survive out here by herself... OOOOHHHH no... OOOOHH no.." she brought her hand to her mouth.

"Wait, who's Spinel? How did you even get separated?" Lapis got up. "Where did you even COME from?!" There was something about this girl that she couldn't quite put her finger on.. She had so many questions for the random alien on the roof. At night. And in the heart of Empire City.

She stopped and turned back around. "She's my confidante! She was the one that accompanied me..uhm...We just need to find her." The Rose Quartz didn't answer her other two questions. Whether because she didn't want to answer them or she forgot all about them, was anyone's guess.

"Think she's still in Beach City?"

"I sure hope so..." she frowned. Worry in her eyes. She looked up at Lapis, her eyes bleary with tears. "It's all my fault.." she sniffed.

Why did looking at that innocent looking face cry in front of her make Lapis' heart break a bit? "Look.. I may not know your situation, but I doubt it's that bad." she tried to soothe her. "And it may not even be your fault at all."

The girl wiped her face as fresh new tears fell down. "It is.. It's always my fault..."

That hit home.. "Mm, I know the feeling."

A sniffle. And she rubbed her eye with the bottom of her hand. "You do?"

"Yeah." She walked up to the bubble and this time the Rose Quartz girl didn't step back. "Trouble always seem to find me." _And just then, she wondered if she was walking into it again."_ She ignored the feeling. "But they don't see it like that. They always blame me.. for everything."

The girl looked up at Lapis, her lips quivering. She took a few more steps towards her. "Who's 'they'?" she whispered.

"My family." she told her. "They're people who.. are supposed to look after you, take care of you, help you, support you... Love you..." Lapis tried to keep her voice steady. "Sometimes we live with them in the same place. And others live far away."

"Oh.." The girl swallowed. "I don't have one of those."

"You don't? Of course you do." Lapis said softly to the bubble. "There has to be people that you live with, people ..Or gems? that you must know on a personal level." 

"Yes. I do.. But you said that they care for you and help and support you."

Lapis sighed. "Some families don't know how to give that properly.. but, they're still family. My family doesn't do that either." Lapis raised a hand to the bubble.

"They don't?"

Lapis shook her head. A barely audible "No."

"Heh.." The girl gave a humorless chuckle. "I guess I do have one of those." she looked at Lapis' teary eyed face and her palm laying gently on the bubble. She trusted her enough..

The bubble popped and disintegrated in mots of light right under Lapis' hand, giving her just a slight startle. The girl walked up. _Uh oh.. Was this a trick? What was she going to do now?!_

The girl wrapped her arms around her, giving her a gentle hug. "Uh...?" was all Lapis could say. She didn't know whether to hug her back or what.

The girl continued to hug her, her eyes closed and a small smile on her face. "Since I've landed here, I've seen so many humans do this.. And I always wanted to try it out. It looked very nice and comfortable." She chuckled a bit. "Why do humans do this?"

"Oh.. a number of reasons. When greeting each other, when we're congratulating someone, when we're happy.. and also when we we're sad and we need consoling. It's called a hug."

The Rose Quartz nodded, a single tear falling down her cheek. She hugged her tighter. "I like these 'hugs'." she smiled.

And Lapis loved hugs too. She would always receive them or give them many, many years ago. It was nice. And this was nice. 

She reciprocated the gesture, slowly bringing her arms around to give the girl a hug. Lapis ignored that slight bad gut feeling she had towards the Quartz. The little girl needed the hug. Just like she needed it. The girl came from a bad family. Just like her. And the girl was sad. And so was she. They needed each other.. At least in that moment. And Lapis was going to get her home. That's all that mattered to her. She was going to do a good deed. She was going to bring her home, no matter what.


	3. Chapter three

The two shared the embrace for what Lapis felt, wasn't enough time. The Quartz having pulled away when she heard another helicopter. She looked overhead as it passed by, then looked back at Lapis.

"I told you." she said gently to her. "It's just a helicopter."

"What are they for?" she watched as the helicopter whirled further down away from them.

"To transport people from place to place."

The Quartz's whole demeanor changed into that of cheerful glee. "You mean those things can take us where ever we want to go?!"

"Not.. everywhere. Just to certain places."

"Could they take us to Beach City?!" she bounced.

"No, that's way too far away. And besides, we can't just simply get on a helicopter. It doesn't work like that."

She stopped bouncing. "Then how are we getting there?" she looked Lapis up and down and put her hand on her chin. She leaned in. "I don't suppose you have a ship.. do you?" she raised an eyebrow.

"You mean a spaceship?"

"I don't know what that is." she said plainly. "But I'm talking about a handship. Or perhaps somehow you have a legship of your own as well?"

"Okay, now I don't know what _you're_ talking about. But, whatever, I don't have any of that. I don't even have a bike."

"...A bike..?" she narrowed her eyes in thought. "I have no clue what that is either.." 

Lapis resisted the urge to groan. "Yes, of course you don't know what a bike is.. You seem to not know what _anything_ is here." she brushed her hair back and took a deep breath. "Okay, okay.. We'll make do with what we _do_ know, which is. You live in Beach City." she counted on her hand. "And-" She stopped, her finger hovering over her middle finger. "And.. Well that's pretty much all we know."

Rose tried to think of something else that was in the area. Something else that could possibly help this human. "Oh! There's a lot of light brown dirt there."

"Sand." she corrected her. "And that's everywhere in Beach City."

Rose tried to think of something else. "Oh, yes! There's lot's of liquid _by_ this 'sand' ."

"The ocean.. And Beach City has a lot of that too." 

Rose thought once more. "Oh!! And there's a LOT of upright structures along these planks."

"They're just shops.." she breathed out. 

The two stood there for a few moments. 

Rose sighed dramatically. "If we just had _my_ legship, we would be flying right now." she looked up at the sky.

_So she does have a spaceship!! Or.._leg_ship? Maybe that's what they're called instead? Maybe because.. you power it with your legs like a bike? Or..Is the ship just_shaped_ like a leg?_ Then another thought crossed her mind and she couldn't help but feel just a pang of jealousy that this little girl in front of her had HER VERY OWN SPACESHIP of some sort and she didn't even own a good pair of tennis shoes. She dismissed the thought.. Or tried to at least.

"Do you know where your legship is?"

"Yes! Now THAT I do know." she piped up again. "It's in a place called Changnyeong-gun County. That's what the colorful map read." 

"Changnyeong-gun County?" she snorted. "I've never even heard of that.. Is that even in the States?" she joked. 

"Uhhh.." she scrunched up her face, giving Lapis a helpless shrug. "I.. don't.. know?" 

"Of course.." she shook her head. Then she thought of something. "Hm, I wonder if I.." she patted her pockets. "still have my phone..YES!" she pulled the phone out from her jacket pocket. She started typing the words in her phone..Or at least typed it out to the best of her ability.

"What's that?" Rose looked at the foreign electronic in her hand.

"A cellphone." was all Lapis said as she clicked the search bar on her phone. _Did you mean Changnyeong-gun County? _ She clicked on the link. The information popped up instantly. "It says that.. it's in Korea..? I don't think that's right." she turned the phone over in her hand for Rose to see.

"Nope, it is." she smiled. "I passed THAT exact building with Spinel." 

"You're kidding right?!"

The Quartz shook her head.

"Korea?! Really?! But how did you go from _there_ to here?! How is that even possible?! And how did you leave a WHOLE spaceship-" 

"_Leg_ship."

"Legship on the OTHER side of the world!"

Rose pursed her lips in thought. "Oh, wait a minute.. or was it my _palanquin_ that was in Korea and it's my _legship_ that's still in that sandy place.."

"What's a palanquin? Is that like another spaceship? And what sandy place?! And you're STILL not telling me what happened!!"

"I.." she smacked her teeth. "I ..kinda crashed it.. okay?" she folded her arms. Her pout more evident.

"How?! And that doesn't explain how you were able to travel aaaall the way here without any means of transportation." 

"..I.. well.. there was an accident.. upon landing.." she shifted her eyes away from Lapis. 

"But _hooooww_ did you get. all. the way. heeeere?!" she stressed.

"I used a warp pad.. How else?" she shrugged with her arms still folded.

"What's that?"

"You don't know what a warp pad is and and you're from here? But they're ON your own planet. They're those crystal pad dealies on the ground that teleports you to places." she snorted. Narcissism in her voice. "Yeah, it's very efficient." 

"How have nobody ever heard about this?!"

"..Maybe because humans can't activate them? I saw a pack of tiny humans jumping up and down on it, but nothing happened. Once they left, I tried it out myself and I was able to use it perfectly fine."

"Well, I still don't know what you're talking about. I wouldn't know where to look for one."

"There's one by a place that has these." she pulled a piece of plastic from the inside of her dress pocket.

Lapis grabbed it from her hands. It was squishy. "Melted ice cream?" she turned the wrapper over to see a picture of an ice cream sandwich shaped like a cat. Strawberry ice cream on one side and vanilla on the other. "Oh, it's that Cookie Cat ice cream." 

"So you know where to go?!"

"I'm not 100% on it.. I just know that most stores don't sell these anymore and that the factory is selling the rest of them wholesale."

"I only understood about twenty percent of that sentence... But do you know where this "factory" is?"

"Yeah, it's actually not too far from me." Lapis turned her head, pointing to a faint line of smoke in the distance. "Can you see that little line of smoke? That's where the building is." 

"So we go there then!" she cheered. "Then, I teleport us to Korea, we get my legship or my palanquin and we go to Beach City and find Spinel and EVERYTHING will be great after that! And you can go back home after helping me!" 

Lapis' heart sank at the thought. The idea of going back home to the chaos.. Well, who said she would have to go back? She could just go back to what she had intended to do earlier or just run away.. "One step at a time there, Rose Quartz. FIRST we need to actually _get_ to the factory."

"So how are we getting there?"

"We can take a bus there. Come on." Lapis made her way towards the elevator. "All I need to do is get the rest of my money and a few other things out my room, then we can.." she trailed off. She couldn't go back.. 

_ And what her mom had said to her.._

She had no idea what her mom would do to her.. "Ah, man.." she stopped and Rose bumped into her. "Ow." she rubbed her nose. "What, what happened?" 

"I can't go back home..I.." she had to take a moment to think of what to say. "It's this person who's after me.. If I were to go back.. I honestly don't know WHAT she would do to me.."

"Then we can't let her find you." she walked pass Lapis to stand in front of her.

"How? There's only two ways of getting into the house and that's going through the front door. Which I can't. And there's scaling the building.. which.. I can't." 

"Then if you can't do those things, I'll just take you down."

"You can fly too?!"

Rose snorted. "What? No, I'm not an Aquamarine or a Lapis Lazuli."

Lapis nearly chocked. To hear that there was an alien species named after you or that you were named after an alien species? caught her by surprise. It also left her wondering if _every_ single gemstone was an alien gem. 

And she was also jealous again that these Lapis Lazulis could FLY! But. That was besides the point.

"Come on, we can't waste any more time." Rose scooped up Lapis and she gave a started yelp. "Wow, you're strong."

"Hm." Rose nodded. "Gem strength. So, where's the location of your.. 'home' ?"

"It's behind us." she stuck her thumb out pointing the other way. 

"Okay!" Rose started her run towards the edge of the building. "Wait, wait, wait." she saw them getting closer and closer and CLOSER to the edge. "But I thought you said you couldn't FLLLYYY!!" Rose jumped off the building, and Lapis screamed, only to stop moments later once she realized they were floating down, slowly. 

The cars were soo far down.. And a part of her mind went back to what she had planned to do earlier. She could've been gone.. and she could imagine police and ambulances at the scene of the crime and her family not caring about her lifeless body..

".. llooo?" Rose was trying to get her attention.

"Huh?" she looked up at the gem.

"Which one is your home?" Rose was looking at the many rows of windows.

"I can't tell which floor we're on.." she looked around. "Oh wait! Mrs. Agate's window! She's three floors below us. She has a loooot of flowers along the windowsill and." Lapis looked at the flowered up window, nearly six floors above them. "and.. we just missed the apartment.." she deadpanned.

"Ah, okay then." There was a sudden drop as Rose adjusted to a faster descend and Lapis found herself screaming again as they cleared window after window, after window in a blur. Rose only laughed. "Why are you so scared?!" Lapis' rebuttal was more screaming. They were approaching the ground fast. 

Onlookers were pointing and screaming. 

Rose slowed her pace at the last second and tapped the ground lightly, jumping and rushing back up towards the height of the building, rushing pass the windows in a blur once more until she finally reached the height of the building.

She started floating gently back down again. Lapis loosened her grip. "..Okay, I have to admit." she panted out. "That's a..pretty cool move."

"Eh, it's an okay power.. Besides, there are waaay more cooler powers that other gems have." she continued her gentle descend until they got close to her window. "Here's the window." Lapis pointed.

"This one?" Rose slowed her pace down to a near stop. "No, the next one." Rose adjusted her speed once more and slowed her pace to a near stop again, right in front of the window. 

"Now. All I have to do is, MMMM! Ooopennnn, this. UP." she tried opening the window, before letting out a puff of air. "Yeahh, it's not budging. Guess I didn't have it unlocked.."

Onlookers were still pointing as three police cars started to roll up on the sidewalk. The sounds of sirens and horns filled the air. One officer stepped out. 

Lapis watched the lights as they danced across the windows. She looked down. "Oh crap! It's the cops! Aww man. I should've known this would've drawn attention to us!"

"But what do we do now?! Who are they?! Do we.. do we fight them?!" 

"What?! No, we don't fi!-"

"Hey! What's going on up there!!" they heard a microphone boom from 17 stories below.

Lapis' heart raced as she was put on the scene. She tried to think of something quick. The cops were now involved, she couldn't get into her room to get her stuff and her mom would most likely be peeking out the window to see what all the commotion was about.

"JUST.. help me get in!" she shouted out her nervousness. She leaned over, straining her muscles as she tried to jiggle and push the window up. "Maybe.." she strained out. "Maybe I can jimmy this some..kind..of WAY to nnnnn!! To open this! Come on girl, help me with this!""

A flash of light appeared on the brick wall not too far from them. It quickly made it's way to them, putting a spotlight on them.

"Don't try anything else!! We have you two surrounded!" said the robotic male voice.

"It's. Just. Not. BUDGING! Help me!" 

Rose reached with one arm but stopped just by the slider. She felt a tear fall down her face. She pulled her arm back and touched her cheek, feeling more, fresh tears stream down her face. "Oh no.." she let out a shaky breath.

Lapis felt a few errant tear drops fall on her arm. She looked up, her arms still held underneath of the window. "Rain? Whoa, what's wrong with you?"

"We have. To get out of here. NOW!" she said in a shaky voice. She pulled her arm back and threw a punch, punching the glass.

"My window! You shattered it!" bits and pieces of glass sprinkled towards the ground. "Wouldn't be the first time I was involved in a shattering.." Rose mumbled lowly to herself. She spun around, kicking the pieces into the room and she threw Lapis through the window and climbed in after her.

Lapis got up wincing as she pushed herself up, her palms pressing down into the glass as she did so. Glass shards stuck her palms as she lifted herself up off the floor in a heave, her body full of adrenaline. "You could've warned me that you were going to do that!"

"Just hurry and get your things!" Rose head her full attention up at the sky. Tears still flowing nonstop from her eyes.

"WHO'S THAT!!" yelled a voice coming from up the hall. Loud stomps were running up towards her room. 

"The door! Get the door!" Lapis yelled at her.

"How did she find me?.. There's no way they found out.." she whispered to herself, still looking intently at the blackened sky.

Lapis was throwing another jacket into a dufflebag. "The door!!" 

Rose plucked her eyes from the sky to look at Lapis who only gestured hurriedly at the blue painted door.

Rose ran to the door and opened it. "Now who the-!" her mom shouted out. "NO!! CLOSE IT!!" Lapis shouted and Rose quickly shut the door just as her mom pounded on the door frame. "WHY WOULD YOU OPEN IT?!" she threw a few toiletries into the bag.

"Your instructions weren't clear! I thought we were gonna run out through here." she gestured her chin up at the door.

".. sounds like Lapis and someone else." her mom was heard through the door. She started banging on it. "LAPIS!!" they heard some knocking somewhere in the back of the house and the footsteps scurried away. "I.. think she left?" Rose inquired.

Lapis threw more odds and ins in the bag and zippered the big bag up. "Whatever. We just have to get out of here." she hoisted the one strapped bag over her shoulders.

Three loud bangs pounded on the door and Rose jolted in shock. "POLICE! OPEN UP!!" yelled a male voice.

"I ain't bailin' you out either!!" yelled out her mom.

"Let's go!" Lapis ran towards the window and peered down. There were at least eight more police cars scattered about the area. The whole parking lot was blocked off by police tape and two streets were blocked off by police cars. Paddywagons and ambulances were close by and a fire truck was entering the scene, pulling up in front of the door of the apartment complex. A helicopter was heard just slightly above them. The loud, propeller sputtering coarsley mixing in with the sounds of the sirens below. 

"Okay!" said Rose. She leaned off the door and made a dash for the window. She put both hands and one leg up on the windowsill, ready to climb out and she looked up at something and gasped, quickly crouching down and hiding underneath of the windowsill. Her breath hitching. Hyperventilating instantly.

"Whoa! What's going on now?!" Lapis looked down at the terrified gem before looking out the window and around the sky. She thought she saw a blue spec in the sky, but it quickly disappeared. She was wondering if she was imagining it.. "What's wrong? There's nothing out there."

Rose hesitated, before slowly turning her body back around and leaning back up. She looked up at the sky. She didn't see anything. And she noticed that her tears had finally stopped.

The door was kicked down and the cop stepped in, gun in hand and ready. "STOP RIGHT THERE!"

"Now who the heck is she?!" her mom yelled from behind the cop.

Lapis held her hands up and Rose looked at her, mimicking her as she lifted her hands up. 

"Now, drop what you have. And put your hands behind your back!"

Lapis reached the strap of her bag. "No, keep your stuff." Rose whispered to Lapis.

She stopped her hand away just inches from the strap.

"I didn't tell you to stop!"

Rose stepped a foot in front of Lapis and the cop pointed his gun at the little quartz.

"Another move and I'll shoot!" he warned her.

"I don't know what 'shoot' means.." Rose whispered to her.

"It means he can seriously hurt us with that gun."

"Stop talking!"

Two more cops barged into the room with bigger guns.

"I'll tell you again. DROP what you have and put your hands behind your back."

Lapis looked at Rose from the side. The gem had her full attention on the cops.

"Not following orders ey?"

"Human, climb out the window and jump." Rose whispered to her.

"What?!" she shrieked.

Rose flung her arms down forming two huge shields. The first officer started shooting, then the other two officers followed after. Lapis screamed, crouching down. She could hear the shells pelting off of.. 

She looked up from her arms. Every single bullet was being reflected from the two shields. "I'll cover for you. Just jump out." 

"But I can't jump from that height."

"I know! I'll catch you."

The shots ceased and a "We need backup." was heard by the guy into his walkie talkie. "Send in the troops."

Lapis fixed the bag on her shoulder and started to climb the window. Her hand pressed down on the jagged glass, pressing the already existing glass more into her palm, as she lifted herself out.

"She's escaping!" one of the cops shouted. The two cops ran up to them, tackling the shields and crashing into them. The shields didn't budge and they started grabbing at the sides of them. 

Lapis looked down at the bystanders and the police officers below her. "We have one escaping from the window. Fire when ready." she heard an officer say. 

"No.." Lapis stopped.

The three officers were going for another tackle and Rose threw both shields, one smacking two of them into the wall and the other, smacking the main officer into her mother. The two crashing hard into the wall. "Wow, you're _really_ strong. Hey!" Rose picked her up from her stomach and stepped up on the ledge. She punched more of the upper glass out. "Here we go." she slid down from the ledge and jumped vertically from the wall, quickly forming a pink bubble around them.

They soared overhead, pass the commotion. The officers fired away. The bullets thudded on the bubble, without making a scrape or even a ripple on the surface. Lapis watched through the pink tint as vehicles started pulling off, following them. 

Rose kept the bubble up, the forcefield only drifting down extremely slowly back towards the ground in a hover.. "Hm.." she set Lapis down. "Must be a way to get rid of these guys." she said.

Lapis looked around the city. High rises, rundown buildings, very little trees, cars zipping pass.. Then she looked further away, watching a subway pull off from a station in a distance. She watched as the long strip of lights coasted along it's tracks. "There! We can go there!" Lapis shouted out, pointing. "Do you see those lights?!"

"There are lights everywhere." she tried to see where she was pointing.

"The moving lights!" she blurted out.

"Oh! Yeah. Yeah, I see them!" 

"We can take that subway downtown and hurry up and get to the factory!" she watched as the police cars easily kept up with them. "But.. at this rate, they may actually catch us..Or at the very least, follow us right at the station."

"Pfft, neh. I've saw those ground ships drive and they're definitely not fast. Watch, I'll simply outrun them and they won't even be able to catch us." 

"Wait, are you like Flash or something?"

Rose free fell in the bubble. "Who?"

Lapis was too busy screaming again to answer her. She'd grabbed a hold of the gem the moment they started to fall.

In the midst of them falling and Lapis still screaming, she looked over to see Rose glowing pink. She screamed more and let go of her. Then she looked down at the ground rushing towards them and screamed more, holding back onto the pink glowing girl. 

The moment Rose stepped on the ground, she.. simply started walking.. Walking along the grass, just on the side of the sidewalk. A rat was seen in slow motion, going slowly towards a fallen trashcan. And a jogger and his dog were both in mid run. Both of their legs off the ground. And the dog's tongue out of its mouth. Rose looked behind her to see four police cars barely moving, two blocks behind them. She started laughing and turned around. "AHHHH! TOLD you they couldn't catch up with me!-Huh?" she was looking at a slow motioned Lapis, still in mid scream. 

Rose sighed, hanging her head down. "Oh right.. It effects eeeeverything around me." she sighed.

More slow motioned, silent, mid screaming from the teen.

"Well.. guess I'll just... continue with this power until I get to that subway thingy you were talking about then?"

No answer.

Rose gave her a very long, over exaggerated sigh. "Fiiiine. Whatever.." she pouted. " I wanted my peace and quiet anyway.." she lied and continued her walk towards the 'station' the human was talking about.


End file.
